New Israeli envoy to Vatican takes post

ROME (JTA) — Zion Evrony has taken up his post as Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See.

Evrony, who was appointed to the post in July, presented his Letters of Credence to Pope Benedict XVI at an audience with the pontiff last Friday.

He was born in Iran in 1949 but made aliyah as a baby. The career diplomat has held positions at the Israeli Foreign Ministry and been based at posts in the United States and Ireland, where he served as ambassador from 2006 to 2010.

The Vatican and Israel established full diplomatic relations in 1993. In published comments, Evrony said relations between the two states were “good and based on reciprocal trust.”

Evroy said he hoped that lingering disagreement that have hindered the implementation of a financial agreement between Israel and the Vatican would be resolved soon “and that this will open the way to a betterment and reinforcement of relations in many areas, including academic and cultural spheres and the fight against anti-Semitism.”

Ruth Ellen Gruber is JTA’s senior European correspondent. Based in Rome, she travels and writes extensively on Jewish affairs in Italy, Central and Eastern Europe and other European countries. A former UPI reporter, she has also written for The New York Times and the Encyclopaedia Judaica. She is also the author of several books: Virtually Jewish: Reinventing Jewish Culture in Europe, Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to East-Central Europe and Upon the Doorposts of Thy House: Jewish Life in East-Central Europe, Yesterday and Today.